back to my question at the start of the season

seriously, what were your expectations? some of the people who are fans of this team act as if we are some type of "elite" team and we are not. Teams who are not expected to make the playoffs perform exactly how this team has performed this season. The sooner some of you realize this, the sooner you will be better off.

seriously, what were your expectations? some of the people who are fans of this team act as if we are some type of "elite" team and we are not. Teams who are not expected to make the playoffs perform exactly how this team has performed this season. The sooner some of you realize this, the sooner you will be better off.

My expectations have always remained firmly in check. As I stated in another post, we've only beaten 3 teams with above .500 records this year. The playoffs are a long shot. I just want some action before the trade deadline. I think we all need a little hope for next year.

My expectations were to see the Raptors build on their defensive principles from a year ago and show some improvements on offense. More than anything else I would have liked to see the franchise establish some sort of direction to show fans where they are heading.

They have not met my expectations and I'm unclear what direction the team is heading at the moment.

What I find strange is that last year especiall during that first 13 game stretch it didn't matter who we played. We beat teams that were good, bad on the road or at home.

This year we don't beat teams that are any good. IMho we should beat teams like Brooklyn and Milwaukee. Especially when we play them at home.

As far as expectations I thought we could be a 40 win team this year but This went out the window at the beginning of the year after the 4-19 start.

Now, I'm really hoping we trade bargnani and Calderon. I like Jose just as much as everyone else but being forced to play him is making us severely mismanage Lowry. By reducing Lowry to a 20 minute a night player you are taking away the only guy on our team who can score 20 points a night and create shots for himself and other guys.

This organization is falling into the same trap over and over when it comes to Jose. He's a good player, but he doesn't have the talent on this team to make him effective long term with respect to our overall record. By playing him, you require derozan, Ed or Amir to create their own shot on offense during important stretches.

I'm not trying to blame Jose for everything, it may be possible for us to win with him, I'm jut saying that our team takes on a certain characteristic when he starts, which has some pros to it, but ultimately the con is that we are not an above 500 team. So in answer to the question, every game that Jose starts and we take the emphasis off of giving Lowry a chance to lead this team my expectations for the year fall.

seriously, what were your expectations? some of the people who are fans of this team act as if we are some type of "elite" team and we are not. Teams who are not expected to make the playoffs perform exactly how this team has performed this season. The sooner some of you realize this, the sooner you will be better off.

I expected to miss the playoffs but have a firm idea of who we are building around and who we can flip for picks and assets. I also expected to see a defense- first team and real tangible culture that is identifiable to the rest of the league.iwant players who get traded to this team to know what this team is about before they get here. I want that culture to be grity physical defensive play. This above anything else was my expectation of this team. They aren't the yet.

9th in the east, within a play-off spot going into the last week but ultimately coming up short by a couple of games. That would give us the competition and excitement we have lacked in previous seasons, while still getting rid of the out-going pick in this year's weak draft.

For the off-court stuff, trading away Jose was my goal since before camp and other other deal that improved the team. Trading Bargnani wasn't part of me pre-season expectation (we all hoped he would be good again), so I can't claim that but it is definitely on my mid-season evaluation wishlist going forward.

I believe I predicted 39 wins and at 9th or 10th in the East. Which is not inconceivable but they would have to go 25 and 19 the rest of the way. I was hoping for a continual defensive identity which was pissed on at the beginning of the season. That has somewhat improved now which is nice, but they are still not the same defensive team they were last year.

If there were minor changes going into next season then the team will continue to play well on some stretches but play even worse on other stretches. They are a below average team (lower than I had originally expected unfortunately).

To help right this ship a bit this season, I think the Raptors need to get a veteran center that can help defensively. Amir/Ed/JV are fun to watch since they try so hard, but they are all under sized and get beaten up in the post, while Aaron Gray, Quincy Acy and Andrea Bargnani are all useless. The wings are mediocre but in the short term would probably be too difficult to fix unless Bryan makes a block buster deal which is probably not going to happen.

The PG situation is the least of my worries. We are not losing because of the PG spot. We are losing because we are either too undersized in the post, or have wings that are below average. From a big picture point of view it makes absolutely no sense to give Jose the starting job, but as mentioned in other threads - Jose is better for this particular roster. That says more about the roster than it does about the PG though.

2. Establishing lineup units and on-court chemistry --> injuries have largely derailed this notion, but I do like the way the team has rallied of late; I wonder how much of the core will still be here next season and playing the minutes together that they have been?

3. Be a highly competitive team fighting for the playoffs, but ultimately fall just short and giveup a late lottery pick in a weak draft, to complete the Lowry trade --> injuries and limited player development (Bargnani, Lowry, Valanciunas, Fields) has caused them to be a little lower in the standings than I expected, but the end result will likely be the same.

SURPRISES
- Davis and Johnson have both impressed me this season, but I still think they are both backup PFs (#3 big) on a good team and that one of them should be traded
- Calderon has played more minutes and much better than I expected him to this season, returning to the form of a couple years ago (pre-hamstring injuries)
- Ross looks to have been a good pick, although his shot has not been falling consistently (I forgive since he's a rookie)

DISAPPOINTMENTS
- Bargnani, 'nuff said
- DeRozan started the year looking vastly improved (just like his "improved" 3pt shot to start last season), but has regressed significantly and is nowhere close to being worth his new contract
- Lowry started the year on fire, but has looked like a slightly better version of Bayless since returning from injury; defense is hugely overrated, offense is way too inconsistent, his natural game is too much of a black-hole (my preference is for starting PG to be pass-first) and his attitude is cause for concern
- Valanciunas missing so much time to injury (though I think he'll be a good defensive-anchor type C in the long-term)
- Fields' shot and handles (likely all related to his wonky hand, I hope) have been a major letdown

seriously, what were your expectations? some of the people who are fans of this team act as if we are some type of "elite" team and we are not. Teams who are not expected to make the playoffs perform exactly how this team has performed this season. The sooner some of you realize this, the sooner you will be better off.

Not that I want to get into this again but......management expected to make the playoffs. It was the talk at the end of last season, the offseason and the pre-season.

You are asking the wrong question. Who cares what the Raps Republic forum thought? The real question is why did management think this 14-24 team was good enough?

I love this. Colangelo and Casey run around hyping this team up, along with the compliant Toronto media, and then guys like you get mad at the fans for being hopeful? Save your scorn for the guy with high collars and his buddy in the ill-fitting suits.

Not that I want to get into this again but......management expected to make the playoffs. It was the talk at the end of last season, the offseason and the pre-season.

You are asking the wrong question. Who cares what the Raps Republic forum thought? The real question is why did management think this 14-24 team was good enough?

I love this. Colangelo and Casey run around hyping this team up, along with the compliant Toronto media, and then guys like you get mad at the fans for being hopeful? Save your scorn for the guy with high collars and his buddy in the ill-fitting suits.

I don't think management said not making the playoffs would be a disappointment. Which is different than saying the playoffs are the goal. One expects to make the playoffs the other is ecstatic to make the playoffs.

I don't think management said not making the playoffs would be a disappointment. Which is different than saying the playoffs are the goal. One expects to make the playoffs the other is ecstatic to make the playoffs.

It's easy to say now that the team was expected to under perform, but would they be in this situation if 1) all players were healthy and never got injured 2) Casey stuck to the winning system from the beginning of the season

I assumed this team was at least playoff bound, with 1 superstar away from getting to the 2nd round and 2 superstars away from being a contender.

What I find strange is that last year especiall during that first 13 game stretch it didn't matter who we played. We beat teams that were good, bad on the road or at home.

This year we don't beat teams that are any good. IMho we should beat teams like Brooklyn and Milwaukee. Especially when we play them at home.

As far as expectations I thought we could be a 40 win team this year but This went out the window at the beginning of the year after the 4-19 start.

Now, I'm really hoping we trade bargnani and Calderon. I like Jose just as much as everyone else but being forced to play him is making us severely mismanage Lowry. By reducing Lowry to a 20 minute a night player you are taking away the only guy on our team who can score 20 points a night and create shots for himself and other guys.

This organization is falling into the same trap over and over when it comes to Jose. He's a good player, but he doesn't have the talent on this team to make him effective long term with respect to our overall record. By playing him, you require derozan, Ed or Amir to create their own shot on offense during important stretches.

I'm not trying to blame Jose for everything, it may be possible for us to win with him, I'm jut saying that our team takes on a certain characteristic when he starts, which has some pros to it, but ultimately the con is that we are not an above 500 team. So in answer to the question, every game that Jose starts and we take the emphasis off of giving Lowry a chance to lead this team my expectations for the year fall.

I think the Raps would be better off moving forward with Jose. Jose makes everyone else better and with the youth we have I think we should be concentrating on development rather than trying to win now. Letting Jose leave T.O. will be Colangelo's greatest mistake. He will prove his true value when he is surrounded by better players.

I think we are developing just fine as things on the course we are currently on. All our young players are improving and hopefully by next year we will be in the playoffs and still improving. Better to keep Jose, bring in a young point guard and have Jose mentor him for the next 3 yrs or so and then he can take over and Jose can play back-up. Lowry is not the answer for this team. Our development will be stalled when he takes over the reins.

I think the Raps would be better off moving forward with Jose. Jose makes everyone else better and with the youth we have I think we should be concentrating on development rather than trying to win now. Letting Jose leave T.O. will be Colangelo's greatest mistake. He will prove his true value when he is surrounded by better players.

I think we are developing just fine as things on the course we are currently on. All our young players are improving and hopefully by next year we will be in the playoffs and still improving. Better to keep Jose, bring in a young point guard and have Jose mentor him for the next 3 yrs or so and then he can take over and Jose can play back-up. Lowry is not the answer for this team. Our development will be stalled when he takes over the reins.

I have to disagree, this team isn't ready yet, move jose so you don't waste his best years.